Free
by AsianScaper
Summary: Set right after the finale. Korra and Asami arrive in the Spirit World. Thank you to Bryke for making my OTP canon.


It had been a long time since she had felt whole. The weight of the years had torn her apart. If not for the multitude of lives within her, an assembly of friends and family, it would have been the end of an Avatar. Perhaps not the cycle, but certainly her spirit.

Korra felt tethered to her companion's gaze. What a feeling it was to be whole! To be certain of some things like her ability to overcome physical injury, to know that it was possible to lift her head above the rising flood of her own insecurities, to realize that kindness, especially to oneself, was paramount to healing. These were heralds of a beginning, and the end of an age.

It made every connection even more precious. She smiled softly at her companion, took note of the fluttering in her stomach as she felt a squeeze from where their hands were joined.

"What are you thinking?" Asami whispered as the ground beneath them solidified, the air around them warm with the glow of their journey.

"That I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend this vacation with."

Asami's painted lips lifted in a grin. For all the pain that the situation with her father had caused her, Asami had let Korra know that this, too, was for Asami's sake. Korra could not look away. How could she? Knowing the inevitability of their friendship despite Korra's stubborn intent on isolation and distance, having that validated on their first embrace or from the hand that held her shoulder when Korra was at her weakest, the blessed silence she offered which helped Korra move -these had been enough to light the embers of something deep within her.

_I could possibly be the luckiest girl in the world_, Korra thought.

Asami seemed to read her mind and brought a hand to Korra's face. Both their cheeks reddened but with the courage that Korra had always admired, Asami said, "Whatever this is, however much or little we feel," Asami placed a thumb against Korra's lips, "know always that I care."

"I've never doubted that."

"There were times you acted differently."

"Oh Asami," Korra whispered, her throat tightening as tears threatened to fall. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry." Asami straightened, pulling Korra along and into the vast, untamed vista of the Spirit World. "We'll make up for lost time."

Korra had never felt more free, or loved. Indeed, there was no easy name for what she felt, or what the glimmer in Asami's eyes was whenever they landed on Korra. But if their penchant for saving each other's lives or sacrificing their own for the sake of the other meant nothing else but love, then Korra loved Asami.

"So, what now?" Asami asked.

"Nothing, I guess," Korra breathed, dropping her pack as she fell into the grass and stared up at the sky. "There's a lot to be said about being still, for once."

Chuckling, Asami joined her, twisting to face her as Korra basked in a gaze that seemed greener and more alive than the pasture they were in.

"Thanks for coming," Korra said.

"Thanks for offering. I needed this." Asami faced away and lay on her back, perhaps shielding Korra from the strength of her emotions. "And you."

Korra bit her lip, reaching for Asami's hand. Maybe it was the lightness in the air, and the surreal honesty of the Spirit World when it came to matters so polarizing as light and dark, joy and sorrow, love and hate. She pulled into Asami's space until their faces were inches apart.

For a moment, Korra stared at Asami's lips, wondered only briefly about how they would feel against hers before the repulsive weight of lost opportunities spurred her into action.

The kiss was gentle and Asami smiled against her mouth. She deepened the kiss as her arms pulled Korra closer, her hands splayed against Korra's hips. Korra pushed to lay atop her, steadying herself against her elbows. They lay there, reveling in their emotions, the heat of each other's lips and the increasing tremor between their bodies.

"No, don't stop," Asami said when they pulled apart, her breathing laboured as she took in Korra's position, one thigh between Asami's legs and the length of the Avatar fully on her.

Korra admitted in a breathless whisper, "I didn't know that I'd been wanting to do that for a long time."

Asami raised a brow. "Surely you'd suspected something when you asked me to run away with you on a vacation."

"You have a point there," Korra laughed.

Asami's voice was deep, luxurious and her hands wandered from Korra's lips, up her arms, cradling her neck before finally caressing her face. "As I've said, I care. More than care, apparently."

They both grinned before they sank into the grass of the Spirit World, unfettered by the horrors of their past and buoyed, always, by each other.

FIN


End file.
